CARD: Topps XFL 2020
ACQUIRED: IP 2023, San Antonio Brahmas v Orlando Guardians

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

• Eli Rogers played WR for Louisville from 2011-14.
• Consistent and dependable, Rogers never failed to catch less than 41 passes every year.
• Over his 4 years with the school he posted 176 receptions for 2020 yards and 12 TDs.
• He also moonlighted on punt returns, with 29 career returns for 248 yards.
• He spent the entire 2015 campaign on IR with the Steelers after signing as an UDFA.
• Earning the final (5th) WR spot with the Steelers that year, he ended up starting 8 games, recording 48 receptions for 594 yards and 3 TDs.
• 24 of his receptions went for first downs.
• With an increasingly crowded WR room and an ACL injury, Rogers saw his playtime decrease over the next two seasons.
• After being cut in August of 2019, he’d find his way to the XFL 2020 as a selection of the DC Defenders.
• He’d catch 19 passes for 164 yards.
• After bouncing around between the Montreal Alouettes (2021), and the Bandits (2022), Eli was a first round pick of the Orlando Guardians in 2023.
• Despite the franchise’s early on QB woes, Eli posted 20 catches for 173 yards and a TD.

NOTES:

Eli was one of the first players out onto the field for the Guardians, as he serves as a return man for the Guardians. I moved to this really sweet spot that puts me in earshot of the players. I called out his name and he saw me with my card and pen and flashed a smile. After warm-ups finished and the players started returning to the locker rooms, Eli came over and signed his XFL 2020 card for me. We joked about how I was an OG fan of the XFL in 2020 and how the Defenders were fun to watch, before he kindly signed this card for me.